చుక్కమ్మ చిరు కోరిక

ఆఫీసుకి వెళ్తుంటే అల గాడు ఎప్పుడూ అడ్డు చెప్పలేదు. కానీ నిన్న మాత్రం చాల ఏడ్చింది వెళ్ళద్దని. తలుపు దగ్గర నుంచుని గడియ మీద చెయ్యి వేసి గట్టిగా ఏడుపు మొదలు పెట్టింది. అప్పటికే ఆఫీసుకి లేట్ అయింది. యెంత సర్ది చెప్పినా వినలేదు.
'నువ్వు వెళ్ళద్దని' పెద్ద పెట్టున ఏడుస్తోంది.
ఏడవడానికి కారణం లేకపోలేదు. ఈరోజు ఇంట్లో మధ్యాహ్నం దాక వున్నా. దానికోసం ఒక make-shift ఇల్లు దుప్పటితో కట్టా. దాంట్లో దాని పిల్లల్ని, నా పిల్లలుగా చూసుకుని పడుకోపెట్టా. అదీ దాని సంతోషానికి ఆ తర్వాత ఇప్పటి విచారానికి కారణం. చందమామ కథ మధ్యలో అయిపోయినట్టనిపించెందేమో! ఏడుపులోకి దిగింది.
ఈ చిన్న మెదడులో ఏమి ఆలోచిస్తుంది, ఏయే విషయాలు తలుచుకు ఆందోళన పడుతోంది అని అనిపించింది. ఎలా అర్థం చేయించాలి, ఈ చిన్న wonderకి అనిపించింది. ఆఫీసుకి వెళ్ళకపోతే చెల్లి దగ్గరకు వెళ్ళడానికి డబ్బులు ఎలా వస్తాయమ్మా అని అడిగాను.
నాకు తెలుసు, ఇది బ్రహ్మాండంగా పనిచేస్తుందని. నువ్వు, అన్నయ్య స్కూల్ కి ఎలా వెళ్తారమ్మా అన్నాను. ఏడుస్తూనే ఆలోచించింది. ఆ చిన్న బుర్రలో ఏ thought ప్రాసెస్ నడిచిందో తేలీదుకాని. ఏయే ఆశల్ని, ఏయే కోరికల్ని ఎలా పరిహరించుకుందో తెలీదు. తనకు తానూ ఎలా సర్ది చెప్పుకుందో తెలీదు.
'మరి, తొందరగా వచ్చెయ్యాలి మరి,' అని కండిషన్ పెట్టింది.
'తప్పకుండానమ్మా' అన్నా.
వెంటనే వెళ్లి సోఫాలో కూచుంది.
ఆఫీసుకి వెళ్లాను, రిపోర్టులు కొడుతూనే వున్నా కానీ మధ్య మధ్యలో చుక్కలాంటి చిన్న మొహం గుర్తొస్తూనే వుంది.

sans noise, it's a great Deepavali

High inflation is not all that bad. don't scold me friends, but true. high inflation has a telling impact on Deepavali this time. it is environmental friendly Deepavali this time. not by any choice but people are forced to buy less of crackers this time. nights before Deepavali days went silence. i know for sure, all little kids and pigeons could sleep, a 'sound' sleep, early tonight!

My Village, My World, the DVD wrapper

reunion

That was really a wonderful day, meeting old pals at our school after 30 years. some of them have not changed a bit. some travelled hundreds of kilometres for the rendezvous. brain is such a wonderful thing -- it could rewind all the memories associated with that ground, walls. ...and the short film on the village and friends got good response.

a letter from my son

(Have you ever asked me to go and play? not just computer games, any game.You always ask me to read.

A peep into past

Last 15 days have really been quite hectic. Taking visuals, doing interviews, collecting pictures, talking to video-editor, pestering friends at village -- all to make a documentary. As I told you earlier, our high school friends are meeting after 25 years in Hiramandalam (Srikakulam). and, i offered to make the film. It's really fun, though hectic, looking at the black-and-white pictures of friends. A good part of the day 'm reliving those moments again. Sad to hear that some friends passed away -- all unnatural deaths. RIP!

ellora

If you have not seen Ellora caves already, you must go there! though i read in history books about the carving out of a mountain to build temples and monasteries, it is really visual splendour. Seems, it took 10 generations (200 years) for some families to complete these architectural marvel. Buddhist monks found this serene place, some 60-70 km away from Aurangabad, to set up base. and when they decided so, they chiseled this mountain out. they were followed by Jain monks and Shaivites to make these mountains their home.
I was really flummoxed by a particular Buddhist cave. they built in such a way that, you chant something and it is amplified by some 200 times. Unbelievable knowledge of acoustics at work.

I imagined monks belonging to those bygone centuries walking around me, discussing Tripitakas. I suspected air there carried remnants of their sincere love for mankind!

Business Line : Opinion : ‘You are not really mining for your needs'

Business Line : Opinion : ‘You are not really mining for your needs'

an unexpected guest!

marvellous music

music composers are the best of all creators. i always marvel at their capacity to imagine tunes that make our hearts dance with joy, some make us cry and others take us back to wonderful memories. As if they know all our intimate secrets. Some tunes haunt you forever and no matter how many times you listen to them, you will have the same intense experience.

How can they visualise world within of crores of people? They randomly pick instruments -- violin, flute, sitar, jalatarangini -- to express otherwise unexpressable feelings of heart. i must have heard, 'Tere bina zindagi, at least a thousand times, not once i felt bored. it is the same case with 'abhi na javo chodke' or 'voohalu gusagusa laade' or himagiri sogasuloo or kurisindi vaana.

the world would have been a lot poorer or a meaningless place but for their work.

turning nostalgic

what began as a not-so-hopeful effort has turned  out  to be an exciting one. After over 25 overs, it is time for reunion of schoolmates. a list of 100 is ready now. some are living in the same place, others moved to different villages, towns and, why, countries too! a couple of them passed away too. some are doing well, others are not some get addicted to liquor, some had to put a full stop to education. some promising students then had succumbed to the vagaries of life and settled for far lesser things.
it is time to collect numbers, reminisce anecdotes -- humorous, serious, romantic or about those listless events went by. some you remember. some drag you to those past days with full of action, innocence.
trying to get back to those days gone by is really tricky. chances are, you might end up crying over split milk or cursing decisions that had changed lives forever!

Business Line : Opinion : Meaning of a ‘crop holiday' this kharif

Business Line : Opinion : Meaning of a ‘crop holiday' this kharif

time to part ways with chicks

My daughter's dictonary

Sheffl -- Shelf
beevra -- beeruva (almaraiah)
Izag    -- Vizag
Tung-leen -- tongue cleaner
Dhoolkat -- Cool drink
gimmies  - Gems
Jayamma  -- Jarudubanda (slide)

the two some

Jumpy now has a companion

A lot happened since I wrote on Jumpy, the chick. One day, it broke its right leg and spent the whole night in terrible pain. Not knowing what to do, we applied turmeric powder. I Googled that night and found some leads on vet hospitals. Aman said he would hold it as took it to a vet multi-specialty hospital. The doc initially thought of taking an X-Ray but settled for a cotton-bandage and gave it vitamin suppl and pain-killer. It took almost two weeks for it recoup, limping still though. But it became dull and would resign to a corner.
Something interesting happened. Our maid brought a two-day old yellow chick. You must see faces of Aman and Ala. They were literally jumping with joy. Jumpy, however, was skeptical initially and refused to accept Bowli (didn't know why, but Ala named it Bowli, the moment she saw it!). But that was momentary. She began to enjoy the newest member in the family and became active again! 

Business Line : Features / Life : A city in love with a river

Business Line : Features / Life : A city in love with a river

Cooing of Cuckoo

It's not just smiles that are infectious. Good and pleasant moods too. This morning an unassuming, fellow walker in the park scented a cuckoo somewhere and provoked it by cooing. The cuckoo fell in the trap and started cooing. My fellow walker responded back by slightly increasing the pitch. Soon, a jugalbandhi began. Just under a minute, they brought a new meaning to the morning! What a way to start the day!

Business Line : Opinion : Sowing seeds of uncertainty

Business Line : Opinion : Sowing seeds of uncertainty

statues, values

when i posted in blog that Hyderabad was Jallianwala Bagh on March 10, some friends objected to it. they demanded an 'yes' or 'no' answer, whether or not i oppose felling of statues. certainly, it pained me but we should lament more for felling of those great values enunciated by them. The dead never wanted their statues to be set up. they, perhaps, would have liked had we respected and followed the legacies they left behind. we chose an easier way -- set up statues and rever them.

పతంజలి సంస్మరణ సభ

ప్రముఖ జర్నలిస్టు, రచయిత పతంజలి మరణించి రెండేళ్లవుతుంది. ఇంతకు ముందెన్నడూ లేనంతగా పతంజలి లేని లోటు కనిపిస్తున్నది. సంక్షోభ సమయాల్లో జర్నలిస్టులు, రచయితలూ ఎలా ఉండాలో, ఎలాంటి రచనలు చెయ్యాలో, ఎవరి పక్షాన నిలబడాలో పతంజలి ఎన్నో సార్లు రుజువు చేసేరు.
ప్రజలకు ఎలాంటి షరతులూ లేని మద్దతు పలకాలని, అన్యాయం ఎక్కడున్నా మాటలు మింగకుండా ధైర్యంగా నిలబడి మాట్లాడాలని పతంజలి చేసి చూపించేరు.
పతంజలి జీవితాంతం నిలబడ్డ పాత్రికేయ, సాహిత్య విలువలను తలుచుకోవడానికి ఆయన మిత్రులు, అభిమానులు ఆదివారం (మార్చ్ 13 ) నాడు ప్రెస్ క్లబ్ (సోమాజిగూడ) లో సాయంత్రం 6  గంటలకు కలుసుకోవాలని అనుకున్నారు.
ఈ సందర్భంగా, పతంజలి వ్యక్తిత్వాన్ని, సాహిత్య, పాత్రికేయ ప్రపంచాన్ని ఆవిష్కరించే పుస్తకాన్ని విడుదల చేయనున్నారు.
పతంజలి రచనల్లోని, ఆయన ఇచ్చిన ఇంటర్వ్యూ లలోని కొన్ని భాగాల్ని చదివి వినిపిస్తారు.

jallianwala bagh, hyderabad

Hyderabad is Jallianwala bagh today!

update on jumpy

the new member in our family, jumpy, has accepted us as its kin. it treats me like a father and aman and ala, its siblings. it freely roams around in all rooms. last evening, aman, ala and their mother took it on walk. in the night, it protested when we put it in the open box. yelled for about 10 minutes, but went to soon the moment aman and ala slept. and it slept till 8 a.m.! aman jumped out of bed, took it out and continued playing with it. seems, kids in the apartments wanted their parents to buy chicks for them. life begets life!

a new member in the family!

kids will never run out of ideas to create, recreate life! their presence is electrifying. this afternoon, i came back home for a short while. it was a calm afternoon. after a long drive, covering a very long event, i wanted to take a nap before going to office to file the report.
a dull, calm afternoon suddenly turned into a lively one with a lot of bustle around. my son, Aman, who's just back from school, received a surprise gift from his friend next door -- a chick! he has been longing for one. my daughter, Ala, too was jumping with joy. soon, the word spread and all the kids in the apartments joined the revelry. my son named it 'Jumpy'  as it was constantly jumping around. Ala wondered whether she would call it 'Kampy' and asked her mother to get some food to feed the chick.
one kid yelled, another laughed. there was uproar. all my tiredness was gone! i took out my Nikon and shot some quick pictures.
now, after coming back from work i found the kids sleeping. seems they were so tired, playing with the new family member. the chick soon found a friend in Aman and follows him where ever he goes. the tiny  chick, which was sleeping when i entered home, suddenly woke up and made all sorts of noise, perhaps to announce her presence. for half-an-hour it was continuously yelling.
i googled for some info on how to rear chicks. some one suggested we should talk to them. i held it in my hands, talked to him and gave it some water and a few grains of rice. seems, it's contended. it jumped into its cosy box, tucked its head into a corner and sleeping!

subtle messages

Yesterday, we set up a make-shift home for our kids in the bedroom by hanging a blanket on the wall and tucking the other end under the mattress. They invited their friends and spent the whole day there. My two-year-old daughter liked the idea very much. She took a couple of pillows to sleep all her 'kids' -- the jessi, missie, barbie, doraemon and small-gown papa. This morning, she literally forced me to visit her home. I had to crawl to get into her home. She was all smiles. She, then, introduced her 'kids' to me and forced me to hold two of them. She said they were crying for something. My duty was to console them.
Kids are masters of conveying messages. They expect us to cajole them and not to shout at them when they want something. Only, we don't have time to understand subtle messages.

Matchless love

My lil one is so happy to see me every evening coming back from work. She dances, jumps, runs, smiles with her eyes, sings and utters strange sounds. And then she comes to me with lots of anticipation. What does she expect? A hug, a kiss, a pat on her head, a chocolate or an explanation for coming late? I do not exactly know.
I hug, kiss, hold her hand and talk to her asking several questions to understand whether I should do something more to match her love. I always lose. And she never minds it. Next day, she would repeat this as if she appreciates my limitations!

magic real life

reporters lead a strange, weird life. couple of hours at a riot, a book release an hour later, an evening with bryan adams and covering a drab speech of a good-for-nothing politician!
in urdu, they say 'na ghar ka, na ghat ka' (he belongs to nowhere).
they have time for everyone and everything barring family!

spell it right

my two-year old daughter scolded me this morning for spelling 'tongue cleaner' wrong.
"it should be tung - lean not tongue cleaner," she says.
she even demonstrated how the tongue and lips should move as we spell it!

rearview

i never bothered to use the mirror when i drove the two-wheeler for six years. it is only when i bought car, i realised the importance of a rear view mirror. you need to have a glance in the rear-view mirror now and then to check whether you could negotiated the road well. but you can't afford to latch on to the rear-view mirror. but in life, you slip into rear view and it is very difficult to come to terms with reality some times.

the art of driving, living

learning driving was not that difficult. i had an early advice from a friend -- driving is not about speed and applying brakes. It is all about managing distances! with him as a pillion, i hit a bus from behind, unable to calculate his speed. All you have to do is to ascertain the speeds of other vehicles and positing your own accordingly.
Life in a way is akin to driving. life is all about managing relationships. just like you keep off the bumpy roads, keep off those relationships which always leave you bitter.